video from Kenya – day 10

I was a bit emotional in this one after going to mass on the Sunday morning – a completely uplifting and inspiring experience – a celebration of life that moved me to the core with the harmonious singing and beautiful dancing.

on the walk home from mass, we stopped at one of the American funded babies home, which is a similar concept to the Rangala Babies Home run by Sister Mary Esther – but a very different environment, as these guys are fully funded, the children are extremely well cared for and fed, and, as well as taking in babies, they also take in disabled children.

we chatted to one of the carers, who showed us these babies who had been brought in the night before from the hospital. One was two weeks, one was two months and one was four months old. All abandoned – some just left at the hospital, one found by a stranger.

here were the three babies brought in the night before.

All babies that are brought here who are abandoned, must stay for six months before they can be adopted out to families, in case the mother changes her mind and comes looking for her child. Orphaned children can be adopted straight away. Seeing this little two week old baby, really really pulled at my maternal instincts and it was the first time that I seriously actually considered that maybe I should adopt a baby like this (after having thought my entire life that I only ever would want to have my own child).

I just cannot imagine the heartache that a mother must go through to feel the need to abandon her child like this.

Ellen, Jacinta and I all had cuddles with the older children. The little man I was cuddling, was called ‘Basil’ :)

Jacinta and I talked about this on the way home, and she brought up a really valid point that I guess I hadn’t considered – about how being Kenyan is part of these children, and how do you maintain the links to that important cultural part of their life, when you have no experience (or knowledge) of it yourself? the argument that these babies just need love and a home is ok for when they are babies and children, but what happens when they are a hormonal African 16 year-old boy living in Sydney, wanting to know why they think and feel certain ways? that as an Australian woman, I would never be able to feel or understand? an interesting conversation and one I hadn’t given much thought. And a scenario that I don’t think could happen anyway, given Australian adoption laws :)

Jacinta also mentioned that one of her longer term goals is to be able to register with the hospitals to become one of the centres that they call to take in abandoned babies like these, after they have been treated and checked over in hospital.

so this was my Sunday. Lots of love and cuddles to the Suluhisho kids when I got home as well.